


Roses are Sweet but they make me Sick

by fadedlullabyes



Series: Coffee Shop AU [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allergic reaction, Child Liam, First Dates, M/M, Not Canon Compliant At All, PAST Sterek, Peter is a manipulative shit, Protective Peter, Stiles holds grudges, Stiles owns a bookstore, Still Werewolves, abusive sterek, adorable idiots, child fic, coffee shop AU, past abusive relationship, scott is a cutie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-02
Updated: 2014-09-02
Packaged: 2018-02-15 20:05:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2241738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fadedlullabyes/pseuds/fadedlullabyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles has been the running street decoration champ for the past few years. But a newcomer with good looks and puppy eyes takes his trophy away. He wants to hate Scott McCall but can't bring himself to. And their first date, well that was a disaster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roses are Sweet but they make me Sick

When The Alpha Cafe had moved in next door Stiles Stilinski had never guessed that an actual werewolf had owned the place. But that wasn't the icing on the cake, nope. The werewolf just had to be a true alpha, something that was pretty rare even for werewolves. Sure he had been curious and had  ducked into the cafe. The line had been huge on opening day, because, apparently, the owner was giving away one free drink to every customer. What had surprised Stiles was the fact that any size and any drink counted. He couldn't really complain, because some people  had wandered into Stiles' own shop, Stilinski’s Magical Menagerie of Books, as they waited. He wouldn't turn away free business; that was just suicide.

 

Stiles had it out for the man. He had thought about trying the coffee from Alpha's, as the kids called it, but once Scott had won the Halloween decoration contest for the shops on main street, Stiles was boycotting him. Sure, it might have been a little childish. Lydia would always roll her eyes at Stiles when she asked him if he wanted anything from Alpha Cafe. He would retort ‘only a snowballs chance in hell.’ She would never bring him anything, though, because Lydia knew Stiles would just throw it away and walk away. He was sore over losing at Halloween, and Thanksgiving was his only chance at revenge. Stiles never really put any heart into decorating for that particular holiday, but he was at war. He had to win every battle. It probably wasn’t his smartest idea, but Stiles never claimed to be the genius Lydia was.

 

So here he was, brainstorming at the counter. He needed ideas to blow Alpha Cafe out of the competition. Motivation was provided since the cafe was across the street from Stiles’ shop and he could glare at it all he wanted with no repercussions. It wasn’t like the owner glanced out of his own windows to watch Stiles. It was like having advantage while Stiles had his notebook open so he could write notes on what he wanted to do. Thanksgiving hadn’t really been celebrated since after his mother had passed when he was a kid. It was too painful for Stiles and his father to sit down and have a huge meal with a vital part of their lives missing. So they normally had take out and binged on football even though Stiles didn’t like the sport. He had done it for his father and continued the tradition to this day.

 

Maybe that could be the angle he could work when he displayed his books. Stiles certainly had enough room in the windows since his store used to be an antique shop. It was an old building that had been part of Beacon Hills since the town was permanently settled. He had all kinds of books on family and Thanksgiving, and some of them were even by local authors. The thought of having a book signing made its way into his head, and Stiles had a novel idea. He would go all out and display local cookbooks as well as some he had from Appalachia. He could work with these ideas and he could probably bribe Isaac into helping him paint the windows. Stiles wasn’t too bad of an artist but he would need help and Isaac certainly had talent. Stiles would have this in the bag and hopefully business would pick up a little if people saw the effort he was putting into his display this year. They knew he lived for Halloween and to have it taken away by a newcomer was not acceptable.

 

It didn’t matter how utterly adorable the owner was; Stiles was in this to win. He couldn’t allow himself to get distracted by big brown eyes and floppy hair. Of course there was the crooked jaw line too, but he tried to not wax poetic about it because apparently that gave Erica ideas and he’d rather not have her reciting his words back to Scott. Stiles wouldn’t allow himself to be distracted, he needed to up his game and step back into his spot as reigning decorator. He had to do this on his terms and by his own wit. And he had thought about sabotaging Scott but that wasn’t really Stiles’ way because he wanted to rub it in that he had won fair and square. Stiles wanted the bragging rights and to use them before Lydia knocked him over the head with her handbag and God knew what she carried in that thing. Stiles wasn’t about to go snooping because he really didn’t want to know.

 

His ideas were becoming more solid and he only had a week left before he could start decorating. There would be no cheap decorations from the dollar store down the road, nope. Isaac was going to host a child’s workshop tomorrow and their works would be displayed in the windows for proud parents to see. This would be more than a project for the store, it would be a community thing too. People were always suckers for that sort of thing and Stiles was a determined man. He wasn’t above using children to achieve his goal of knocking Scott off his throne. Oh no, he would do whatever it took as long as it didn’t hurt anyone.

 

“You’re scheming again,” Peter Hale said as he stepped into the shop. The man was the uncle of Stiles’ ex that no one ever talks about. Peter wasn’t so bad but Stiles wants nothing to do with Derek. Peter was tolerable and still liked to torment Stiles even though he and Derek weren’t together anymore.

 

“And you aren’t? I know you’re planning something for your little shop.” Stiles countered with narrowed eyes as he covered up his plans. Peter was a smart, dangerous man and could not be trusted.

 

"Ah yes. Everyone on this block is. You act like I can't stop by and say hello." Peter's lips were curled into a smile. "I just wanted to come and check on my favorite person."

 

"You don't play favorites." Stiles snorted with a roll of his eyes.

 

"Because you're my only favorite, Stiles. " Peter responded with a wink.

 

Stiles wanted to take a shower because there was no way his ex boyfriend's uncle should be winking at him like that.  It unnerved Stiles to the point of shivering.

 

"See, this is why people think you're a creeper." Stiles turned away from Peter to place his sacred plans in a lock box. They were safest there since he was the only one who had a key. Not even Lydia, his most trusted friend had one. This was too important to Stiles to allow anyone else access.

 

"And here I thought it was because I stood in your room watching you sleep like Edward Cullen." Peter bantered back, not missing a beat.

 

"Dude, that's too far." Stiles made a face but decided that their little session was over. "You came here for a reason."

 

"That I did," Peter sighed as though it were a chore. "I wanted to let you know that Derek is going to be living in New York with his sisters. He's decided he likes it there."

 

"Good," was the reply Stiles growled out. After the sham that was called a relationship,  Stiles wanted nothing to do with Derek at all. He had closed that part of his life and didn’t want to think about Derek Hale any longer. Stiles felt better than he had in years and dumping Derek had certainly done wonders. Stiles had more confidence about himself since Derek was no longer in his life. Without the verbal abuse Stiles had started to grow into the young man he was supposed to be and was no longer ashamed of his rambling and his ADHD.

 

“Now, when I can expect you and your father to visit the diner again?” Peter asked as he fingered the spine of a book. He wasn’t looking at Stiles but glancing over the various titles that were displayed.

 

“When hell freezes over,” Stiles snorted. He was wishing Peter would leave so he could get back to his nefarious plotting because it sounded so much better than planning.

 

“Which will be soon I suppose.” Peter didn’t miss a beat when he replied. He was used to this side of Stiles and knew just how to manipulate him. “Since it is mine and Chris’ anniversary and we’ve made it to the fifteen year mark, I thought you’d want to attend.”

 

There was something calculating in Peter’s blue eyes and Stiles didn’t trust it. He supposed he owed to Allison to be there because there was no way he was going to leave her there alone with Peter. And Peter knew Stiles would never abandon his friend like that. Stiles knew he was being manipulated but he didn’t a choice.

 

“When is it?” Stiles asked, pulling a calendar out from under the desk. He tended to forget dates if they weren’t written down.

 

“This Friday actually. Don’t worry about dressing fancy, it’s a low key event. Just close friends and family.” Peter gave Stiles a wolfish grin as he jotted the date down. “Now, if you excuse me, I have my own shop window to plan.”

 

Stiles shook his head as Peter departed. The man never stayed when he decided to check up on Stiles. It was like he was a breeze that filtered in through a window. He was used to Peter showing up at odd times and inviting him to whatever party or meet up he was having. it was almost like Peter saw Stiles as family which confused the hell out of Stiles. He wasn’t dating Derek anymore and so Peter didn’t really have any reason to seek Stiles out just to invite him to some random anniversary dinner. It was also scary that Peter and his father still spoke as well. Of course, as sheriff, John Stilinski knew everything that went on in Beacon Hills.

 

When he was sure no one was coming into the store, Stiles pulled his notebook out again and began chewing on the end of his pencil. He had all these great ideas written he just didn’t know how to execute them. The kids would have their projects done tomorrow and he could use Lydia’s help with the book display. She had a knack of knowing what people preferred and would be most helpful in that department. He could prop some of the books on some fake hay bales from Walmart and get a crate to fill with books as well. It wasn’t a half bad idea to be honest and with leaves on the floor around everything, it would set the mood. It would have to beat out Scott and his stupidly adorable jaw and his big eyes. There was no way that Stiles was going to lose this to some alpha who waltzed into town. He had this, he just needed to believe in himself.

 

~*~

If Stiles had known, one, Scott McCall was going to show up with his seven year old kid, he wouldn’t have held the art session at all. He was currently glaring daggers into the back of Scott’s head as he sat with his son, Liam, at the table. Stiles didn’t know exactly how Scott had gotten the idea to attend the session because he had made sure it had been during the time that Scott was working his shift at the cafe. It seemed though that he had switched out the schedule and decided to crash Stiles’ party. Well, his art session anyway.

 

Of course, it was really Isaac’s art session and he didn’t turn Scott away when Stiles had hissed for him to. Isaac had only shook his head and said he couldn’t do that to someone who had let him stay with them for an undetermined amount of time. That had caught Stiles’ attention because he didn’t know that Isaac had somehow known Scott. That certainly had thrown Stiles for a loop to the point where he had only nodded and wondered just how Scott seemed to know almost everyone in Stiles’ circle. He wanted to know just how connected he was to Scott and how the man seemed to know everyone.

 

So Stiles sat at the front counter and watched the session with wary eyes. It was easy to see just how much Scott cared for his kid when he tried to help him. But it seemed that Liam was independent and would push his father away with a glare. Scott would just smile fondly and ruffle the kids hair. It was so sugary sweet and endearing that Stiles thought he was getting diabetes just from watching Scott. Most of the other parents hadn’t opted to stay with their kids. Instead, they gathered at the back of the bookstore and gossiped, which Stiles didn’t really mind. The parents were still close by in case they were needed for anything.

 

Then, Scott turned his head toward Stiles. Of course he would realize he was being glared at but Stiles wasn’t expecting a lopsided grin and a jaunty wave from Scott, his rival. Well, Scott didn’t know he was Stiles’ rival. Stiles didn’t know what else to do so he gave a little wave back to Scott and damn if that man wasn’t gorgeous when a smile lit up his face. Stiles was done, he was in too deep and this was going to bite him in the ass in some way. He knew it, felt it deep down into his bones.

 

And apparently waving back at Scott was an invitation to leave his seat and come to talk to Stiles. Stiles wanted to bang his head on his desk because he so didn’t want to talk to Scott because he knew he would get tongue tied and his interactions with the werewolf were limited. Like seriously, they only spoke five times and most of those times were when they were passing each other on the street. Stiles took his notes and stashed them under the desk quickly because he so didn’t want Scott to see his ideas and possibly steal them for his own. He didn’t know if Scott would actually do that, but still, Stiles liked to err on the side of caution.

 

“Hey,” Scott said when he stopped in front of the desk. His smile was wide as he leaned on the counter, chin in his hand as he studied Stiles with curious brown eyes.

 

“Um, hi?” Stiles responded. He thought it was dumb and wanted to take it back because Scott was a fine specimen of man but he was also his rival. This was his competition and Stiles was going to let him chat him up. His life was truly pathetic.

 

“What’s shaking bacon?” Scott asked, flushing red when he realized what exactly had come out of his mouth.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I totally didn’t mean to say it! I’m normally better with words but like you’re intimidating and I don’t even know if you like me but I wanted to know if I could take you to dinner because I want to make up winning the Halloween contest to you because Lydia said you had won it like the past five years in a row and I just took that from you. And I’m rambling, I can’t help it. So uh, I’ll pick you up at seven tonight, dress nice!” Scott’s were barely decipherable since he was speaking so fast and Stiles had never seen someone so tongue tied before besides himself.

 

“Sure?” Stiles responded, not sure what to say exactly because his brain is still trying to decipher what exactly Scott has said.

 

Scott grinned and took off to be back with his son when he stopped midway and turned back around. His tanned face was still red and he blurted out some words that Stiles totally didn’t understand. He had to ask Scott to repeat himself several times before he knew what the other was saying. Stiles found himself rattling off his address to Scott, something which he thought he would never do. He had never intended for Scott to know where he lived and Stiles just blurted it out like it was some recipe to be shared.

 

Stiles spent the rest of the session spacing out because really what had he agreed to? When the realization that he was going on a date with Scott had hit him, the session was over and Scott was already out the door. Stiles couldn’t take his ‘yes’ back because Scott wasn’t going back to the cafe at all. Stiles could feel a panic attack coming on so he pulled his phone to call Lydia.

 

“This had better be good, Stilinski.” Lydia’s voice filtered through the phone and it sounded like someone was  breathing in the background. Stiles couldn’t be sorry though because Lydia had cock blocked him and Derek plenty of times.

 

“I have a date tonight with Scott McCall.” Stiles said into the phone. His words were almost jumbled together but Lydia knew how to speak Stiles.

“Have Isaac close up to the store and get your ass to your apartment. I’ll be there in fifteen.” Lydia didn’t leave Stiles much room for argument. Stiles didn’t even get a chance to answer before Lydia hung up on him and left him no choice but to leave his keys with Isaac before leaving.

 

The trip to his apartment was a blur because Stiles couldn’t get over the fact that he had agreed to go on a date with Scott McCall. He was fraternizing with the enemy now and Stiles knew nothing good would come from this. He didn’t know how he had made it home but was thankful that he hadn’t broken any traffic laws because his father was on duty and Stiles didn’t want to be busted again by his father. The first few times were bad and embarrassing enough, Stiles didn’t want to get pulled over in his twenties.

 

He didn’t have wait long for Lydia to arrive. Every hair on her head was in place and she was put together perfectly. She greeted Stiles with a kiss to the cheek and pushed her way into his apartment. It was obvious she was already thinking about his abysmal closet and what she was going to put Stiles in. Stiles could only trail behind Lydia as she made a beeline to his closet. Immediately, she began to throw clothes into the reject pile and Stiles was slapped in the face with just how much plaid he owned. Maybe he should have taken Lydia up on her offer in senior year to buy him new clothes.

 

After twenty minutes of digging through his closest Lydia gave an excited scream and pulled a shirt out. He had forgotten about the dark blue button down his father had gotten him for his grand opening. Stiles had worn it one time and had thrown it to the back of the closet because he was too attached to his plaid. Maybe Lydia was going to follow up on her threat of burning all his plaid. She always stated that one day she would use her spare key to destroy most of it.

 

“These will look great with those gray slacks I got you for Christmas.” Lydia muttered more to herself than Stiles. She was a woman on a mission and there was no way that Stiles was going to interrupt her.

 

She continued to gather what she thought was date material and shoved it into Stiles’ arms with a fierce warning. “Go shower, do not put gel in your hair and spike and put these on.”

 

“Sir, yes, sir.” Stiles responded. He would have given a salute if his hands weren’t full of clothes and shoes. Lydia, it seemed, had even picked out his underwear for tonight. He should have hung his head in shame but Stiles just pressed forward into his bathroom. He could mope about the lack of superhero underwear later. He had maybe an hour to get ready for this date since Scott had sprung it on him last minute and Lydia had taken her time picking out clothes.

 

The shower did little to calm Stiles’ nerves. In fact, it only drove home the fact that his seven o’ clock was looming closer. He tried to take as long as he possibly could because Stiles didn’t know if he could handle dating so soon. Sure he and Derek had split over a year ago but the verbal abuse was enough to scare Stiles off any relationship for an undeterminable amount of time. Stiles wasn’t one to make friends easy and the ones he had made, had been because of supernatural related reasons.

Meeting Scott was different. They didn’t meet because someone was dying or needed help in a desperate situation. It was almost a relief because he didn’t think he could deal with the stress of helping someone while they were dying. Sure it worked for Derek and after that they became tentative friends and then had brokered into the relationship department. Things were actually okay until they started to spend more time together and Derek couldn’t tolerate Stiles’ ADHD. Derek had never really laid a hand on Stiles but the scathing remarks were enough to damage Stiles. He didn’t have much experience in the dating department and thought it had been normal until Isaac had pointed the abuse out.

 

Stiles knew if anyone had known their way around abuse of any kind, it had been Isaac. His father was a grade A asshole or rather, had been until his death. It was amazing how far Isaac had come along since he was no longer under his father’s thumb. Stiles knew sometimes the other man had nightmares and would shift in his sleep. Stiles had woken up to many shredded sheets when Isaac wanted to spend the night with him.

 

Lydia’s insisting knocking at the door had Stiles mournfully leaving his shower. He didn’t want to step out into the bathroom and get ready because that made things real. He was going on his first date in over a year and he was sure he was going to screw things to hell. Stiles dutifully dried his body off and dressed himself. He huffed, directing the breath upwards though it did little to ruffle his still damp bangs.

 

“It’s about time. I know you like you to like to be the master of avoidance but...” Lydia stopped talking when she saw Stiles.

 

Lydia had never been rendered speechless in her life and Stiles had to wonder what caused it. He looked around his room but there was nothing that would warrant such behavior out of her. Stiles finally turned back to Lydia.

 

“Um, Lyds, you okay?” He asked, unsure of what to exactly say.

 

“Stiles, you look amazing.” Lydia replied with a smile as she turned him around to face a mirror. Words caught in Stiles’ throat as he caught a glimpse of himself. He didn’t look like himself at all. Stiles thought for sure he was a pod person because the shirt Lydia had picked out did numbers for his skin as well as bringing out his brown eyes. The gray slacks also set off the shirt and for the first time in a long while, Stiles felt confidence in himself.

 

“Thanks, Lydia.” Stiles meant it too. He had a boosted confidence now and maybe he wouldn’t blunder this date at all. He could go on this date with Scott and enjoy himself. There was no one really holding Stiles back this time, not even himself.

 

“Hey, it’s no problem. We’re just glad you’re back to dating.” Lydia’s smile was a tad sad, as though she could have done something about Derek.

 

“And it’s with the enemy.” Stiles cracked with a large smile.

 

“Only you would see Scott as the enemy. He’s really just a big puppy.” Lydia snorted with a roll of her eyes. “Anyways, I have Allison waiting on me. You’ll be fine, Stiles. Remember to breathe, okay? You have nothing to lose and be yourself. Don’t let Derek ruin this for you.”

 

“Thanks, Lydia. I mean it.” Stiles gave her a peck on the cheek. “And tell Allison I’ll want to talk to you tonight so she better not keep you.”

 

Lydia laughed and left, leaving Stiles to his own devices for half an hour. And really, it seemed shorter than that because Scott was knocking on his door at seven sharp. His stomach was rattling with nerves and his subconscious almost talked him out of answering the door. But Stiles remembered how good he looked and he couldn’t let Lydia down. That was not something he could do but more than that, Stiles didn’t want to let himself down. He couldn’t allow this opportunity to slip through his fingers. This was his chance to be happy and he was going to take it.

 

Stiles dried his palms on his slacks before opening the door. He was ready to go but had to stop at the sight of Scott. The man was dressed in a dark green polo that only enhanced the strong biceps. Muscles moved under the two band tattoo on Scott’s left arm. Stiles was mesmerized until Stiles was pulled away from it when Scott spoke.

 

“Hey, Stiles.” Scott said with a smile. He had his right hand tucked behind his back as though he were hiding a gift. Stiles certainly had a thing for gifts and couldn’t stop babbling when someone had dropped a hint they had gotten him something.

 

“Scott. You’re here.” That sounded lame even to Stiles but the stupid grin that spread across Scott’s lips had Stiles forgetting about it.

 

“Yeah. Like I promised. I got these for you, I hope you like them.” Scott thrusted a bouquet to Stiles but before Stiles could protest and inform Scott that he was allergic they were in his face. His throat swelled and started to flail because it hurt to talk.

 

Stiles didn’t have an epipen after the last incident with Peter. He clutched at the front of Scott’s shirt, eyes wide as he tried to breathe. His lungs wouldn’t fill up with air and he saw Scott pull out a phone and dial 911. He caught Scott’s flashing red before passing out and he could hear the worry in Scott’s voice as he gave out information.

 

~*~

There was a fleeting touch of lips on his forehead before they were. Stiles could feel the air shift around him before it settled. He wanted to open his eyes but it seemed like a hard chore but he fought until he was blinking up at a ceiling. Stiles was familiar with the ceiling of Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital since sophomore year. He wasn’t without his share of accidents but Lydia always drug him into trouble and when Allison came along; it was double the trouble.

He hit the button to call for a nurse because whoever had kissed him was gone. His throat was dry and scratchy and he could use a drink of water. It didn’t take long for a nurse to show up and Stiles had a drink of water. He asked for Scott but the nurse stated that his guest had left only a few minutes ago. Stiles wanted to get up and chase after Scott but he was stopped. He needed to stay a little longer for observation because apparently it had been a close call this time.

 

The day stretched on and Stiles really wanted out. He needed to talk to Scott because it was obvious by the afternoon that he wasn’t coming back. Everyone of his friends had visited and left him with cards and balloons; which was ridiculous because Stiles was released that evening.

 

When Stiles was given his clothes he frowned at them. They were ruined beyond repair and would needed to be replaced. He didn’t like the idea because his shirt had been a gift from Lydia. Stiles was more attached to gifts than a grown man had any right to, but they were special to him.

 

The ride home with his dad was silent which was almost surprising. John normally asked questions about Stiles’ life when they had their weekly meet ups and Stiles thought he’d take the opportunity to ask about his failed date. The allergy to roses had killed his first date in ages and Stiles felt like melting into the seat of the car. His dad must have taken the cue from his silence that he didn’t really want to talk about his failure of a date. Stiles appreciated that about his dad.

 

When he was finally home, Stiles set to cleaning up the apartment. It did little to clear his head about the previous night and he wished he had Scott’s number. Stiles would not hesitate to call him up. He could call Alpha Cafe but then he would seem like a stalker and Stiles definitely didn’t want that. It would probably scare Scott and he would run away. Maybe Stiles would actually step into Alpha Cafe tomorrow and see Scott. He always worked day shift since Liam was in school and was always off in time to pick up his son.

 

The next day, Stiles set foot in Alpha Cafe and Scott had ducked into the back the moment he had seen Stiles. That had stung more than any word that Derek could throw at Stiles. It was clear that Scott didn’t want anything from Stiles and Stiles wasn’t sure just how he felt about that. He turned on his heel when it was evident that Scott didn’t want to speak with him. Stiles was the master of avoidance and became a pro at it the next few days.

 

He wouldn’t even glance in the direction of Alpha Cafe even though he wanted to speak with Scott and reassure him that what happened had been a fluke. This was a game two could play and Stiles was good at games. He played one with Derek when they dated and even though this was different, Stiles felt like he was losing out on something great.

 

Stiles had been haunted by the flash of red eyes in his dreams. They were a deep, dark red and he wished he had caught more than a glimpse of them. Stiles was someone who liked staring at pretty things and Scott’s red eyes were something he definitely wanted to do again. His chance might have been lost though with his allergic reaction to the roses.

 

It was pathetic that he was hiding in his bookstore but Stiles really had nothing else to do. He was disappointed in getting his hopes up and actually being excited for something. Today was the first children’s reading Stiles was holding and he hoped it improved his mood. Normally he wasn’t the one who read to children, but he wanted a more hands on approach to his small projects. He had a book picked out, one his mother used to read all the time and meant something to Stiles.

 

The chair was set up and there were cushions lined up on the floor for the kids. ‘I Love You to the Moon and Back’ was clutched in Stiles’ hand tightly when he saw Scott walk through the door. He almost dropped the book because Liam was beside Scott and of course that would be why Scott was there. He wouldn’t be at the store to speak to Stiles about another date. His heart sank into his stomach as he took a seat on the chair and watched as children filtered in. It was a large group and Stiles was grateful for that.

 

When he was sure that every child was settled in, Stiles started reading. He lost himself in the book and used the voices he remembered his mom using on him. It was just too easy to slip into the various roles. He was well aware of the eyes that were glued to him the whole time he was reading. Stiles wanted to look up but he was having too much gaging the children’s reactions. Liam seemed to enjoy everything since he was resting his chin on his hands. His blue eyes were attached to Stiles’ face as he read through the book.

 

Stiles smiled when the book was finished and he closed it. He told the children he had copies for them, free of charge. He liked providing a way for children who couldn’t afford new books to read and encourage them. He only held the readings once a month so he wouldn’t go perpetually broke. Stiles’  father always told him that he had a huge heart, just like his mother.

 

“Stiles? Can I...uh...speak to you for a moment? Please?” Scott startled Stiles with the question and he could only nod. This was becoming a thing and Stiles would have to pay more attention because who knew what he would agree to next.

 

Scott pulled him behind some shelves and took Stiles’ face in his hand. His thumb stroked along Stiles’ jaw gently, as though he were soothing Stiles. It was hard not to lean into the touch because Stiles liked it too damn much.

 

“I’m sorry about avoiding you. I’ve been stupid about the whole because I hurt you and I didn’t know how to act.” Scott said softly, his eyes never straying from Stiles’.

 

“You...you avoided me because you accidentally hurt me?” Stiles was in awe. He’d never heard of anyone apologizing for hurting something because of something they didn’t know about. And Stiles hadn’t exactly thought that Scott would bring roses on the first date. It was so cosmically funny that he couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of his chest and through his mouth. Stiles buried his head in Scott’s chest and hugged him while he laughed.

 

“What’s so funny?”

“You being a moron.” Stiles managed to say between laughs.

 

“What?”

 

“I thought you changed your mind about me, dumbass.” Stiles said when he pulled his head away from Scott’s impressive chest.

 

“I...could have handled it better. But I can make it up. Let’s go on a date right now. Isaac can grab Liam with no problem and watch him. I just, please?” Scott’s eyes were wide and pleading. Stiles couldn’t very well say no to that face because it would be a damn crime.

  
“Okay. Let’s do this.” Stiles said with a wide grin that promised Scott the night of his life. 


End file.
